Knightshade Forgotten.

Ximodo

Mother took a second to examine me, "You've grown too much without me. I 've missed you too much my son." My entire body was shaking, Kanon was standing behind me watching calmly. "Mother, as much as I would love to catch up with you, I would rather do it with the rest of the family around.

She looked hurt for a split second but then relief replaced it. "Of course, I understand. Your father will love to see you again. And your brother will return soon, I'm sure you will want to speak to him before the mid year festival tomorrow."

She stood, walked over to me, and placed a hand on my face. "Time has been cruel to you. Maybe we can fix that."Kanon walked towards us, "I shall show him to his room, as well as start performing the task you gave me." He gestured for me to follow him. I followed after taking a last look at my mother.

"Kanon, what is this task she gave you?" I asked inquisitively, "My task is to act as your retainer. I will carry out any order you have, as well as protect you to the best of my ability." He said without a glance to me. He pulled back a sliding door into a room. "Here is where you'll rest in the nights. Of course if you desire, you may walk around the estate at night, but not outside of it."

I walked inside to put my bag down. It was a fair size room with a sleeping cushion in the middle of the room, there was also a dresser and a desk with a stool beside it. The walls were decorated as if it were underwater, with fish and wildlife swimming across them.

I set the bag beside the desk and turned to Kanon. "It's all so different, but exciting at the same time. Peurotisil was not near as artistic as Ximodo." Kanon flinched a bit at the sound of the neighboring country. "Is something wrong?" He took a small breath, "Peurotisil does not think highly of us, they've been attempting to take this country for years due to it's fertility and landscape." I walked out of the room and he followed me as I head to the entrance of the estate. "So you've been at war with them?", "Since the day you were taken, yes."

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Sounds of yells and metal striking each other came from my brother's training grounds. "Shuji's ceremony will start soon." Kanon said. "It's best to not draw attention to yourself during this." I stared at the grounds, they were arena after arena in a grid patterns with places to watch on the outside of each of them. Kanon led me to one and sat us down quietly. Every student there looked so serious in the ceremony. Kanon nudged me and point to the one at the end.

Shuji was taller than I expected, around 6'2'' and looked as if he'd been making himself stronger in every way he could, he had deep brown colored hair with a sort of headband around it. he had a sort of garb similar to a kimono with a plate around the chest and torso region. His face was almost nostalgic, it was stern and somehow soft at the same time, like a two edged sword. I was also told that he was around twenty-two, five years older than I.

The master called them all to attention and barked orders to every one of them. Each student picked out a sword of their choice and waited in their respective arenas. Shuji however, took a kind of lance known as a naginata, weighed it and stayed where he was. The master then ordered Shuji to pick an opponent, each to become more difficult than the other.

Shuji unexpectedly walked straight up to master and bowed to him. The master rose his sword as Shuji prepared his naginata. They both moved faster than I could keep track of. The master swung his sword as if he were writing in a hurry while Shuji danced around each slash, striking forward when the each of the swings ended. As the master got more aggressive, Shuji kept moving faster, getting more hits in as time went on. And as his final strike, he launched himself forward using the blade of his weapon, disarmed the teacher, and pointed the sword at his neck.

Kanon stood me up to leave before he noticed us, "Best to leave it a surprise for later." he said. He led me out into the town to explore, pointing out certain landmarks that I may not recognise. We both got stares coming at us left from left and right at times. As night started falling, he led me back to the estate where my mother was waiting, an excited expression on her face. "They're inside waiting, they don't know who it is visiting." She said with a spring in her step. "I will tell you, Tsubasa and Shuji may not be too accepting at first, But once they get reacquainted, it will be as it was before."

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"Mother, what if father refuses to believe that it's me?" I asked worriedly "I mean, I am his adoptive son, as well as Shuji's adoptive brother-" She shushed me "It will be fine, you'll see." She lead me to an area overseeing the garden and ponds which I assumed was the dining area. Shuji was the first to notice me, and he turned pale before running over.

Mother pushed me forward for me to greet him. I carefully bowed as he stopped dead in front of me. I lifted up and he embraced me tightly. "I thought you would have never found your way back, I spent so long to practice before coming to find you." he choked out. I hugged him back for a time before father had started to walk over.

I released Shuji and faced my father who rested his hands upon his katana as he placed it firmly on the ground. He had a sort of bearded face that was pure strict on the whole of it. He glanced down at me and took a long look at my face. "What keptyou?" He said in a low gravely voice. He knelt down and placed his hands on my shoulders. "You have a country to help run, we needed you years ago." he said with a smile on his face.

"Come inside, we have much to speak about."